With financial support from utilities and ash brokers*, the Western Fly Ash Research, Development and Data Center was established under the aegis of the North Dakota Mining and Mineral Resources Research Institute in August of 1985. Research will be performed by the two North Dakota universities in Grand Forks and Fargo. The fundamental objective of the Center is to enhance the knowledge base of the properties (chemical, mineralogical and physical) and reactions of the coal by-products (principally fly ash, but including bottom ash and FGD waste) produced in the Midwestern and Great Plains regions of the US. Most of the study specimens will be high-calcium (ASTM Class C) ash derived from low-rank lignite and subbituminous coals mined in North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming, although ash from other regions and coals is also being studied. The enhanced knowledge base should lead to more widespread utilization of these by-products [1,2] or, where this is necessary, to their safe and cost-effective disposal [3].
Feasibility of producing jet fuel from GPGP (Great Plains Gasification Plant) by-products